With spikes in theft, robbery and rape, serious crime in unincorporated Jefferson Parish rose 2 percent during the first half of 2012 compared to the same period last year, the Sheriff's Office said Thursday. But Sheriff Newell Normand said the slight rise should be put in the proper perspective: Crime during the first six months of this year is up just 1 percent from the same period in 2010, when unincorporated Jefferson recorded its lowest numbers in 36 years.

And the overall crime rate has actually taken a dive during the first half of the year, Normand said. The agency finished January 2012 with a 14 percent increase in serious crime compared to the first month in 2011, but overall crime in the first quarter of 2012 was up only 6 percent increase.

"It's a little over 2 percent now. It's been going on a downward trend through the first six months of the year," Normand said.

Rapes are up 22 percent so far this year with 44 committed. Normand said investigators have seen an unusually large number of "affinity rapes," assaults committed by blood relatives.

"Brother-sister, uncle-niece, caretakers, that kind of thing," Normand said. "They're related by blood, and they're committing sexual batteries and rapes on one another."

Jefferson also saw a 10 percent increase in thefts, with 4,723 reported this year. Thefts, including shoplifting, identity theft and pilfering of lawn equipment and tools, account for more than half of all the major crime handled by the Sheriff's Office.

Robberies were up 6 percent, driven by a rash of hold-ups during the first few months of the year. The targets were mostly individuals approached while walking, Normand said.

The Sheriff's Office recorded decreases in four of the seven categories of major crime tracked by the FBI. Most notably, murders are down 50 percent so far this year; detectives investigated 12.

After theft, burglary accounts for the most crime handled by the Sheriff's Office. Though a troublesome category over the past few years, burglaries were down 16 percent during the first half of 2012. Sheriff's Office officials wish the downturn could be attributed to residents finally learning to lock all doors and secure their property.

"We still have a good number of burglaries that are non-forced entry -- garage doors left open, side doors open, back doors open, vehicle doors left open or unlocked -- so we still see a lot of that," Normand said.

"Hopefully, he said, "we'll get more of a reduction as we move through the year."